Month: October 2013

Benedict Cumberbatch, adorable and cerebral, anti-hero in Star Trek, Sherlock and maybe even Star Wars, is curiously underplayed in this curious movie about a curious man. It is half-way between a spin job by Illumnati, US State Department, Murdochian forces (choose your conspiracy) and a simple hatch job by an ex disgruntled employee. Julian Assange, Hacker Ground Zero is portrayed with adequate subtlety but inadequate credibility as an abused child, paranoid, abusive , manipulative liar while the associate who acted as consultant to the movie and founded Openleaks which hasnt really leaked anything- this is a bad job and bad art. However on 23 December 2012 Domscheit-Berg announced on the website that the organisation will not go ahead as previously intended, and would now only focus on spreading information and expertise regarding how to set up and run leak websites rather than directly facilitating leaks themselves.[29]

At times the movie is boring, at times educational. The nice Matrix like visual special effects fail to bring the emotional connection. Mr Cumberbatch risks alienating his core geek fan club- ironically the movie which has shown bad box office results only shows the irony- Benedict Cumberbatch made more money acting as Julian Assange than Julian Assange did acting as himself.

Teachers are encouraged to expose students to online tutorials that may be completed with just a web-browser, tablet, or smartphone. My personal favorite is Blockly. Just try it, and I promise you’ll be fascinated.

There are also unplugged tutorials for students without computer access. No experience is needed! The idea is to help students experience the power of coding and get them “hooked” so they will enroll in at least one computer science course.

I’d like to share what we are doing at SAS to promote the Hour of Code in order to spark ideas for how other companies can do the same.

We are educating SAS employees and arming them with resources to act as advocates. On Dec. 10, SAS CIO Keith Collins will provide an overview at a special lunch event and will encourage employees to be ambassadors for the Hour of Code. For those not able to attend, we will archive the video so folks can watch at their convenience.

I mean how much of the NSA’s budget is spent on combating evils like Merkel’s sms , versus trivial things like baby and child pornographers, people selling fake and illegal drugs and prescription medicine on Internet, and scams like shareware, hostage ware, viruses and simple people downloading illegal intellectual property.

I MEAN HOW MUCH DO THEY SPEND to combat true evil versus assumed security risks like Paris Hilton’s Google Search History or Lady Gaga’s Facebook

If they can build Stuxnet-can they build backdoors that disable wifi on, wifi off signs, or even transmit data for intellectual property theft to give American companies advantages in trade negotiations with the Commies.

I really liked the professional design and interface behind Orbot- it is basically Tor for your Android. Add some rooting- and add some crowd sharing love to donate idle bandwidth in your data plan ( or limitation features for usage per period within a certain connection)- and the Tor network can grow even faster.

Also add some pseudo-random interval based auto-switching mechanism rather than wait for user to do it on his own

Orbot is a free proxy app that empowers other apps to use the internet more securely. Orbot uses Tor to encrypt your Internet traffic and then hides it by bouncing through a series of computers around the world. Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security known as traffic analysis.Orbot is the only app that creates a truly private internet connection. As the New York Times writes, “when a communication arrives from Tor, you can never know where or whom it’s from.” Tor won the 2012 Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Pioneer Award.

1. Collection Limitation Principle

There should be limits to the collection of personal data and any such data should be obtained by lawful and fair means and, where appropriate, with the knowledge or consent of the data subject.

2. Data Quality Principle

Personal data should be relevant to the purposes for which they are to be used, and, to the extent necessary for those purposes, should be accurate, complete and kept up-to-date.

3. Purpose Specification Principle

The purposes for which personal data are collected should be specified not later than at the time of data collection and the subsequent use limited to the fulfilment of those purposes or such others as are not incompatible with those purposes and as are specified on each occasion of change of purpose.

4. Use Limitation Principle

Personal data should not be disclosed, made available or otherwise used for purposes other than those specified in accordance with Paragraph 9 except:

a) with the consent of the data subject; or

b) by the authority of law.

5. Security Safeguards Principle

Personal data should be protected by reasonable security safeguards against such risks as loss or unauthorised access, destruction, use, modification or disclosure of data.

6. Openness Principle

There should be a general policy of openness about developments, practices and policies with respect to personal data. Means should be readily available of establishing the existence and nature of personal data, and the main purposes of their use, as well as the identity and usual residence of the data controller.

7. Individual Participation Principle

An individual should have the right:

a) to obtain from a data controller, or otherwise, confirmation of whether or not the data controller has data relating to him;

b) to have communicated to him, data relating to him

i) within a reasonable time;
ii) at a charge, if any, that is not excessive;
iii) in a reasonable manner; and
iv) in a form that is readily intelligible to him;

c) to be given reasons if a request made under subparagraphs (a) and (b) is denied, and to be able to challenge such denial; and

d) to challenge data relating to him and, if the challenge is successful to have the data erased, rectified, completed or amended.

8. Accountability Principle

A data controller should be accountable for complying with measures which give effect to the principles stated above.

Other Privacy Frameworks

APEC Privacy Framework

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Privacy Framework overlaps with other frameworks; however, it concentrates on actual or potential harm as a result of disclosing information, rather than individuals’ rights pertaining to their information

The Internet Economy on the Rise:
Progress since the Seoul Declaration

Published in September 2013, this book reviews progress made since the 2008 OECD Seoul Declaration for the Future of the Internet Economy and identifies areas for future work.
Overall, the review shows that the Internet economy has become a new source of growth, with the potential to boost the whole economy, to foster innovation, competitiveness and user participation, and to contribute effectively to the prosperity of society as a whole.

The OECD Policy Guidance for Protecting and Empowering Consumers in Communication Services (Annex B) addresses some of the key issues currently facing consumers in this market.
The guidance advocates:

 Informing consumers about potential security and privacy risks in using communication services and available measures to limit these risks.

The OECD Policy Guidance on Radio Frequency Identification (Annex C) encourages research on the economic and social impacts of such technologies The guidance points out the need to prevent and mitigate security risks and to address privacy concerns arising when information relating to an identified or identifiable individual is collected or processed.

AJAY- So the guidelines are there. But who all are following them and who aren’t?